NewsBits

By danl

Created 07/24/2013 - 13:43

NewsBits

Wed, 07/24/2013 - 13:43 | danl

NewsBits

Congress has again been presented[1] a bill that aims to ban the export of e-scrap from the U.S. to many developing nations. The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, reintroduced this week, gained considerable attention during its last go-round, when first introduced in 2011, but did not make it out of committee.

Columbus, Ohio is joining several cities throughout the Buckeye State in piloting[2] a recycling program to collect glass from local bars and restaurants and ship it to manufacturers for reuse. The initiative is covered by a $37,500 grant from Ohio EPA and will help save 150 tons of glass per week from being tossed, while alleviating a glass-shortage at nearby manufacturers.

Construction has officially begun[3] on a $35 million mixed materials recovery facility (MRF) in Montgomery, Alabama. The state-of-the-art facility is scheduled to open by June 30 of next year, with hopes to employ 110 workers and a goal of recycling 85 percent of the city’s waste stream.

Tire recycling in Tennessee should get a boost[4] from tire recycling grants amounting to $3.6 million. A total of 44 grants will be awarded during the 2014-2015 fiscal year, and the effort is expected to help galvanize the production of tire-derived fuel (TDF) from diverted waste tires.

A group of U.K. pranksters have found[5] a smile-inducing way of getting folks to think about recycling: Have a bin mysteriously roll down London sidewalks – and then have it hand it out free bottles of wine.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality recently awarded[6] nearly $1.4 million in grants for waste reduction and recycling projects. Thirty different public, private and nonprofit projects received funding through the initiative; many of the awarded groups are local chapters of Keep America Beautiful.

The regional government around Vancouver, British Columbia, has decided to allow[7]mixed-waste material recovery facilities in the Vancouver area. Government officials had felt pressure from some of their peers who said changing the area's collection program would confuse residents after years of materials-separation training. Northwest Waste Solutions, which is building a facility in south Vancouver, had lobbied for leaders to allow the mixed-waste approach.